@Requiem - Wayhaven discussion
I’m like you. I haven’t changed much, it’s that my patience is wearing thin with the intentional snail’s pace of getting to know UB (not just the RO, but the rest of the team as well) and complete disregard for the MCs we’ve built. B4 is midway through the series, and there’s been practically zero progress with A (and a complete reset at the end of b3 with the “I’m through with you!” bullshit), awesome progress with M in b3 that will be retconned, N being weird, and F still the same old F.
Add in the fact that we’ll get a “the MC and LI have never seen each other in the past few months despite working together constantly and the MC being on the same team” explanation at the beginning of b4 to show why the “connection” has remained stagnant over the time jump. Of course, that also means A acting like nothing in the last three books happened unless it’s to use it to hurt the MC, and M resetting to sometime in b3 before things started picking up because they aren’t allowed to understand things just yet, since we aren’t close enough to the end to be allowed a fucking relationship with M or A.
I think it feels that way because more attention was played to the overall plot. Maybe it’s because the plot was more focused–in b1, we had not-Murphy and in b2, we had a disease that turned out to be caused by Falk and his group. There was no extraneous crap, no keeping the big bad completely untouchable until the very end, and no trying to up the tension with a plethora of nameless “victims”.
In b1, we knew the ones Murphy killed from Wayhaven. It started with a murder and quickly had another murder of a child. There were other victims, but they weren’t from a 500-1000 person town. In b2, there were a lot of victims, one of which was someone the MC knew–who ended up lying in a hospital bed suffering from the disease that was inflicted on them halfway through the game. Even if your MC hated Bobby, that hits close to home.
What do we have in b3? Addie being kidnapped? Addie is quickly forgotten about until near the end. No search parties were really sent out for her, just for the Trappers. My husband, when Addie was mentioned again, asked (in character), “Who the fuck is Addie?” When I stared at him, he shrugged, “Seriously, who the fuck is Addie?” And I had been reading this story word for word to him.
There were what? Twelve people missing from Wayhaven? That’s a huge deal in a town that size. People would’ve been freaking the hell out, and rightly so. But we never saw that (unlike, in b1, Kate showing up to the station crying about her dead son). People would’ve been freaking out over the one missing kid, too. And what is the MC doing? Hiding in the warehouse for a week or more.
The problem with b3 was the fact that the plot made no sense. It felt like something got dropped or forgotten along the way and, instead of using the kid being taken by human/supernatural traffickers, a dozen faceless Wayhaven residents were thrown into the mix to create tension. The only problem is the narrative didn’t make me give a damn. I was more concerned with that kid than a bunch of ghosts.
Plus, as much as Sera hates spoilers, she spoils her own bloody plot by showing the bad guy so early and showing that poor Sin was forced into subservience to the evil, greedy human. Instead of infodumping it, it should’ve been held back–just like she holds everything back from the damned romances, only not for so long that we’re tired of it by the time we get there.
As for recommendations, try these:
My long ass list of recs
Fallen Hero
The Fernweh Saga
A Mage Reborn
The Shadow Society (b1 is done, but I’m not sure if there will be more or not)
I’ll also throw in a rec for Breach: The Archangel Job, just know that it’s very gamey, with dice rolls and such. Be prepared to die. Thankfully, you can reload.
Played the demo and loved it, but either haven’t yet played the full game or it’s not out yet:
Blood Moon
I, the Forgotten One
WIPs
The Bureau
Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian
The Voice of Silverking
Replica: Between Universes (warning, this one is dark)
Non-choicescript games:
Aloners Redux
Wilder Ran
Wilder Badhur (you may like this one better… I prefer Ran)
Superstition (not a VN, but an IF using twine)
A Tale of Crowns
When the Night Comes
Cinderella Phenomenon
Tailor Tales (I only suggest the paid for version–the free version doesn’t have a lot of the romance scenes that get very steamy–but the storylines are really great, and it is now on Steam)
Ebon Light (I freaking LOVE this game)
Demonheart (another one that is awesome–and it has a sequel that is an old-style RPG)
Demonheart: Ice Demon
Andromeda Six (romances are shallow as hell, but the overall story is cool)
Confines of the Crown
Changeling
And thanks to @lo6otia and @RenataC, I am now playing (and almost done with):
Oathbreaker (it’s soooo good!)